7

The removal of the chest tube seemed to signal that the worst was over. Lauren told her daughters they should go back to school; that she was out of the woods, and she should be home for Thanksgiving break the following week. They protested, of course, but knew she was right. Sitting there staring at their mom and her IV drip wasn’t helping anything, and their school work was piling up.

Before they would leave, the girls made her do something Lauren swore she’d never do. Something that she had fought against for years. “I don’t want to tweet or be on Instagram or Snapchat,” she protested as Lindsey positioned Lauren’s personal laptop on a pillow in front of her.

“I’m just signing you up for Facebook,” Lindsey told her mom. “All the old people are on Facebook.”

Rolling her eyes, Lauren entered her email address. “I don’t want any perverts contacting me on this thing.”

“We’ll set the privacy to the highest level,” Erin assured her. “Only friends of friends will even be able to find you, and you can block anyone you want. I do it all the time.”

“Who are my friends?” Lauren stared at the blank profile page as Lindsey started dragging and dropping pictures from her hard drive into the empty spaces.

“Me and Erin,” Lindsey told her, “once we friend request you. Accept us, Mom. Don’t ignore the request. Maybe Reese could be your friend. Grandma too.”

“Your grandmother is on Facebook?”

“Don’t look so shocked,” Erin admonished her, typing something in under the ABOUT section. “Grandma is on Twitter too. We tweet all the time.”

“I barely know what that means.”

“Facebook means we can message you and post pictures to your wall and check in at places, so you’ll know where we are. And you can, too, so we’ll know where you are,” Lindsey explained.

“Can’t we just text each other?”

“You don’t look at your text messages until you go to bed sometimes,” Lindsey said. It was true; Lauren hated her cell phone. She carried her work phone during the day and often left her personal one at home. She figured anyone who had to get ahold of her would know how to reach her.

Giving in on the social media stance made Lindsey and Erin feel better about having to go back to school. They said they’d feel more attached to her, which was a generational thing, Lauren knew. They felt most connected through technology, which Lauren thought was sad. That’s why she’d held off for so long, depending on their Saturday three-way calls to stay connected. She prayed social media wouldn’t end those conversations, but she knew she had to embrace social media somewhat to stay close to her girls. Consoling herself with the fact she’d be able to spy on her daughters—even if it wasn’t really spying if you and your friends put your whole life on the Internet anyway—Lauren finished setting up her account and accepted her first two friend requests: Lindsey Riley and Erin Riley.